Abstract
Episodes of depression and anxiety commonly follow the experience of stress, however not everyone who experiences stress develops a mood disorder. Individuals who are able to experience stress without a negative emotional effect are considered stress resilient. Stress-resilience (and its counterpart stress-susceptibility) are influenced by several psychological and biological factors, including the microbiome-gut-brain axis. Emerging research shows that the gut microbiota can influence mood, and that stress is an important variable in this relationship. Stress alters the gut microbiota and plausibly this could contribute to stress-related changes in mood. Most of the reported research has been conducted using animal models and demonstrates a relationship between gut microbiome and mood. The translational evidence from human clinical studies however is rather limited. In this review we examine the microbiome-gut-brain axis research in relation to stress resilience.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
With the emerging evidence showing that alterations in the gut microbiota can influence mood, it seems plausible that stress-induced changes in the gut microbiota could mediate the development of chronic stress and/or anxiety and depression following a stressful event
Stress-induced changes in the gut microbiota are a key variable which needs to be considered more in mood research
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Coping style is influenced by the level of biological stress response and associated neuroendocrine systems [7], and active coping under stress is increased with anti-depressant drugs [7]. This suggests that interventions which affect the biological side of stress resilience may be a useful adjunct to current treatments and preventative care. It is plausible that changes in the gut microbiota due to stress at least partially mediate the onset of stressrelated depressive or anxious episodes This narrative review discusses research published on the interactions between stress and the MGBA and examines the evidence and potential mechanisms of how differences in stress-related changes in the gut microbiota may be associated with stress-resilience
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